Biz journalists optimistic about local economy

U.S. business journalists — who keep their fingers on the economic pulse of their local communities – said they expected business conditions in their areas to improve in the next six months, according to a new survey commissioned by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism.

In a telephone survey of 300 business journalists conducted nationwide in mid-July, many described their local economies as suffering. One in three said business conditions were bad, and four out of 10 said jobs were hard to get.

But they expressed optimism that their local economies would improve, with only 6 percent saying they expected things to worsen in six months.

When asked about their local housing market, about one in four said the residential real estate market was better now than six months ago. Only about one in 10 thought it would be worse in six months.

Conditions were toughest in the West, where half the business journalists said their local economies were bad and jobs were hard to get.

Read more here about the survey’s results.